Kwara’s N70b rice project starts in December

Kwara State’s N70 billion rice cultivation and processing project is to be unveiled in December, its foreign partner has said.

The partner, Valsolar S.L. 2006 of Spain, said it has secured funds for the project that has an initial life span of 4 years.
Reacting to the news, Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed welcomed the development as the project is key to his administration’s efforts to provide food for the people, jobs for the youths and inputs for agro-allied industries, while at the same time growing the state’s economy through agriculture.

“ I am particularly pleased that this project will be generating 12,000 jobs across the value chain as well as substantially growing the state’s economy. Our farmers will also benefit from the technology transfer component of the project. No doubt, this huge project is one of several envisaged under the Kwara State Agricultural Modernization Plan (KAMP) the implementation of which is soon to commence”, he said.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Investment, Policy and Strategy, Abayomi Ogunsola, said under the terms of the joint venture Memorandum of Agreement the company is to invest N70billion in the project over the next four years, while the state will provide 20,000 hectares of land as well as infrastructural support for the project which will operate under a registered joint venture company, Valsolar-Kwara Limited. According to Ogunsola, each annual module of the project will see the company cultivate 5000 hectares of land and produce 40000 tons of rice for local and international consumption.

Following satellite and laboratory soil analyses earlier in the year, Valsolar-Kwara has decided to site the projects in communities along the River Niger in Kwara North, namely Tsonga, Pategi, Bacita and Lafiagi, he said.